A Damn Good Reason
by Cainneigh
Summary: Rush walks in on a conversation he wasn't supposed to hear. REli Rush/Eli


Rush walked into the Gate room, planning on recopying the data from the Gate's earlier records. He stopped at the console and reached to press a button when he heard someone talking above him. He stopped and listened.

"And he told me if we ever get back to Earth, he'd take me there." Chloe smiled dreamily. "Matt is so sweet!" When Chloe wasn't talking about Matt, she wasn't talking. Everyone on the ship had gotten so tired of her incessant speaking in the last month.

Eli sat with his legs hanging off of the balcony that overlooked the Gate room. He nodded at everything Chloe said, half listening, and half daydreaming. He hear a few words that she said, Matt this, Matt that, but he wasn't even trying to focus on her. Suddenly he realized that she had stopped speaking.

"Do you have a girlfriend, Eli? I never thought about it before, but maybe you have someone back on Earth." Chloe was actually talking about something other than her wonderful boyfriend.

Eli turned his head towards Chloe. She smiled sweetly at him. Eli shook his head. "No, no girlfriend. Mathboy's not too popular back on Earth." Eli had never been the most popular guy at school, although he had friends. And since his family had fallen apart, he had been somewhat withdrawn.

Chloe turned her gaze to the opposite wall. "Oh", she sighed." Well surely there's someone you like back on Earth…" She just never shut up.

Eli huffed. Rush stood quietly below, not wanting to interrupt their conversation, though it sounded like Eli wouldn't be too disappointed if he did. Rush didn't purposefully eavesdrop on conversations, but why waste this chance? He might learn something.

"Well, no. I don't like anyone on Earth…" Eli twirled his thumbs about and stared off into the empty arch of the Stargate. He remembered the first time he had been flung through the rippling blue pool, only two months ago. He remembered being beamed out of his house and onto a real spaceship. He remembered answering his door and finding Rush on his front porch.

Chloe leaned further back against the railing of the balcony. "On Earth? Then there's someone you like here?" She sounded interested and surprised at Eli's previous statement.

Eli rolled his eyes, though Chloe couldn't see.

Chloe was so thick, Rush thought. Eli obviously liked her. And she left him to sulk while she went down on Lieutenant Scott. Rush's fists tightened just slightly. Rush had never liked her, and was disliking her more and more by the minute.

When Eli said nothing, Chloe pressed harder. "So you have a crush on someone on the Destiny? Oh who, Eli, who?" She grinned brightly patted Eli on the back. There normally wasn't much gossip on the ship, probably due to the fact that nothing interesting ever happened. This was big news.

Rush felt a tiny tinge of sympathy for Eli. Either Eli told her he liked her now, or she'd squeeze it out of him later. There was no escape.

Eli sighed. "You're going to laugh so hard." He slumped against the railing.

"Oh, don't say that, Eli. I'll support you no matter what." Chloe gave Eli a reassuring smile and waited anxiously.

"Fine. But you're not going to believe me."

"Try me."

"Alright." And after a pause, "Rush."

Chloe's eyes widened. "What? Rush? You like Rush?" Chloe was shaking Eli's arm gently, her mouth open.

Eli rolled his eyes again. "I told you", he whispered.

Chloe felt badly and rubbed his arm. "I'm sorry, that's just so surprising. I didn't know…"

Below them, Rush was reasoning in his head. _Eli must have lied to her to keep her from finding out he likes her. But what a terrible lie. He should've said someone who was more believable. Unless…_

"Wow", Chloe stated, getting unusually quiet. "What's it like to have a crush on Rush?" she asked. She stood up and leaned against the railing, staring into the large open space of the Gate room.

Eli moved to sit at the top of the staircase. "Chloe, I don't think it's a crush. I think I'm in love with him." His own words almost surprised him. He had never admitted to actually being in love with Rush before, and he had certainly never been in love before. He buried his head in his hands, sobbing gently.

Chloe came to sit next to him, trying to comfort her friend. "Oh. So why don't you tell him?"

Eli jerked his head up, shouting, "Are you crazy? Yeah, I'm sure that'd go over well. Ha, tell Rush I'm in love with him. I might as fling myself into space while I'm at it, huh?" Eli laughed hysterically.

Rush was in shock. Eli was lying, right? There was no way Eli was in love with him. Rush tried to think about every time he had seen Eli. He tried to recollect if Eli had dropped any signs or clues of this affection. Now that he was thinking about it, Rush maybe could see something. Was Eli lying? Rush decided to take a chance.

Rush walked out from under the balcony, making some noise so Chloe and Eli would be alerted of his presence. "Eli", he called. "Eli?" He acted as if he'd been searching for Eli throughout the ship.

Eli was momentarily surprised at the subject of his previous conversation's sudden appearance. "Yes, Rush?"

Rush twirled around, acting surprised to find Eli at the top of the stairs. "Ah, I found you. Can you come here for a moment? I need you."

Eli and Chloe exchanged glances, and Eli ambled down the stairs. Chloe flashed him a good luck smile. When Rush got closer to the boy, he saw that Eli had been crying. His eyes were kind of red, and a tearstain was still visible on his cheek.

Eli followed Rush down the halls obediently. He asked quietly, "Why do you need me?" Eli thought something must need correction in the control room, or at one of the local operation boxes.

Rush answered, "Because I love you."


End file.
